Emy, that is great to hear! Please keep us posted on your progress and continue to use Business.gov to help you along the way. Thanks for jumping in BizResearcher and RentalLease!

I own an event planning business that I have operated from my home for nearly 12 years. I noticed that you used the term 'inc.' in your business name. Legally, you can't do that unless you are registered with your state or local agency as a corporation. My business is an LLC. That affords protection of my personal assets, yet is less restrictive with the reporting and tax issues than a corporation. As an LLC, I must use those letters after my business name, so I would be 'Let'z Get Married, LLC.' Because you are using the term 'married' in your business name, you may find it harder to book other types of events. Using a more generic name, such as Let's Get Started Event Planning, would be more appealing to people planning a family reunion or a business event. You will need to find out if your city requires you to have a local business license. Some cities license all businesses; others license only select businesses (taxies, restaurants, etc.). Thanks to the proliferation of illegal activities that can occur in homes, home-based businesses are not exempt from having a business license and you will also need to comply with zoning requirements. You will be restricted on the number of employees you can have, parking of both clients and employees, signage, and you may be asked to obtain a home occupation permit. If you do not own your home, be sure to find out if your lease agreement allows you to operate a business from your home. If you live in a condo or a subdivision with restrictive covenants, check them to see if you can operate a home-based business. You obtain an EIN (tax ID number) from the IRS using form SS-4. You can find iformation at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html There is no cost and you can apply by fax, phone or mail. Your greatest expense as an event planner will be advertising. You are constantly seeking new clients, so you have to keep your name before the public. Prospective clients will want to know about your experience and they will want references. Since you apparently have no experience, you may want to start volunteering in your community. Offer to be your church's wedding coordinator; volunteer to help with non-profit events. Read everything you can on wedding and event planning or take an on-line course. You also need experience in business operation, everything from finances to marketing to management skills. Taking courses in things like dispute resolution and working with difficult people is also helpful. Plan on spending $6,000 to $8,000 to get the business up and running. This money will probably come out of your pocket, since few, if any, loans are available to home-based service businesses. The IRS will expect you to make a profit in three out of five years or they will determine that your business is actually a hobby. I spent much of my first year in business creating a database of all the services and facilities available in my area. You can find out about those in your area by meeting with businesses and arranging to tour facilities and then leave your contact information. Don't talk contracts with merchants. That raises red flags that you may be expecting a kickback (which violates consumer protection laws in many states). You should never sign a contract for a client. If you do and the event is cancelled, you are responsible for paying the merchants for their lost business. Instead, the client should pay you a fee for your services and then they pay the various merchants their fees. That way, if an event is cancelled or a date is changed, you are not financially responsible. In my area more events occur in the summer than there are facilities. Therefore, competitive pricing is a bit of a misnomer. Facilities don't compete on price as much as on the amenities they offer and you need to know about them. For instance, I know which hotels offer the dance floor for free and a case of champagne for free, as well as giving us the meeting rooms for free based on the amount of food purchased. These are things you will learn when you meet with facility managers. You may or may not get referrals from facilities, caterers and others. They will want to know that you are dependable and will be around in the future. The national turn-over rate in the event planning industry is less than two years. Most people enter and leave the business because working weekends and evenings interferes with family time, they are underfunded, or they don't know how to market the business. It can be a rewarding business, but it is also a lot of hard work. You also can't charge so much that people will decide to spend the money on more food and ask Aunt Martha to coordinate.

Thank you so much for replying!   Every little bit of information always helps ;)   Sincerely, Emy 

Dear Biz Researcher,   Your information was extremely informative!   THANK YOU so much for your insight on event planning.   Sincerely, Emy

While I agree with BizResearcher that sometimes a lease agreement or condo / home owners association might impose some restrictive covenants regarding whether you can operate a commercial business out of your home, in reality this only becomes an issue if you start having considerable business-related traffic in and out of your home, which it doesn't sound like you will. If it's more of a 'I'm going to work from home' type situation, you should be fine. But, if you start having a lot of clients over, it might make more sense to sign a lease agreement on some retail space or some other more appropriate commercial venue. Keep us posted here on how your business goes, and congratulations on making the leap from employee to entrepreneur, it's exciting!!!! Cheers, ____________________ Brian Message Edited by NicoleD on 11-17-2009 10:14 AM

Hello Brian!   With regards to my location, I'm thankful to own my own home.   As for meeting with clients, I still have to see how to go about doing that. But if there are any suggestions with regards to that, I would gladly like to receive :)   Any information retained for my business I know will always be a plus for me :)   I really appreciate everyone's responses!   Thank you very much!   Sincerely,   Emy 

When I have meetings with clients or prospective clients, I try not to meet them at my home unless they insist. If you are contacted about a business event, plan to meet the business owner at their place of business or at the facility where the event will occur, if it has been chosen. If you are meeting someone about a wedding, be selective about going into their homes. If I get a call from a mother and things seem okay, then I meet at their home. If the call is from a young person who lives in an apartment complex and wants you to come to them, particularly in the evening after dark, you may want to offer an alternative, such as meeting at a coffee shop half way between their home and yours. Meeting at coffee shops is very common and many merchants do it. Just choose one where you have space to spread out your things and where the music and noise aren't annoying. If you do meet with someone at your home, it is a good idea not to be alone. If you are alone, turn on a radio or TV in another room and turn it down low, giving the impression that someone else is in the house. Keep valuables out of sight and have a phone handy. Above all, think in terms of your personal safety. Hopefully, nothing will ever happen, but you need to be vigilent just in case. Message Edited by BizResearcher on 11-17-2009 11:15 AM

I am taking a lot of notes on all that is being provided to me here. I really appreciate the feedback!   This truly makes me feel more excited on this new path I've chosen to take. :)   Thanks again!   Emy